Portland road partially cleared

by

The roadway was partially cleared at Cornwall Barracks to accommodate single lane traffic.

Marooned for the better part of five days, residents at Cornwall Barracks in Portland are now able to move about their normal business after that roadway, which was blocked by a massive landslide on Friday, has been cleared to accommodate single lane traffic.

Yesterday, heavy-duty equipment was seen busily working along the thoroughfare clearing away mud, stones, and other debris amid the inclement weather.

On Wednesday, during a visit to the area by government minister Daryl Vaz, who reportedly promised residents that the roadway will be cleared in two days, workmen toiled tirelessly overnight to ensure that the main thoroughfare was cleared.

But on Thursday opposition leader Dr Peter Phillips, who toured the Rio Grande Valley and met with rafts captains assigned to Rio Grande Rafting to hear their plights. He also visited the Cornwall Barracks area to have a first-hand look of the actual damage.

"It is total disaster in this Rio Grande Valley area, which is also the breadbasket of the parish," Phillips said, adding that measures need to be put in place to prevent a recurrence.

Meanwhile, raft captains are also expected to receive assistance, as Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett and West Portland MP Daryl Vaz are scheduled to visit the raft stand at Berrydale to hand out cheques to assist with the rebuilding of their rafting equipment that were damaged during the recent rainfall.